As pointed out by Ambassador Xie Feng, in recent years, tourism cooperation between China and Indonesia has achieved fruitful results. According to statistics from Indonesia, the total number of Chinese tourists to Indonesia over the past six years has increased by 144.2%. In 2016, around 1.453 million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia, making China the largest overseas tourism market of Indonesia. On average, each Chinese tourist spent USD1107. And tourism alone has generated about USD2 billion in foreign exchange earnings for Indonesia in 2016. In the first two months of this year, around 398,000 people from Chinese mainland visited Indonesia, accounting for nearly one-fifth of all the foreign tourists to Indonesia. If such increase continues, the number of Chinese tourists to Indonesia in 2017 is expected to reach a new height.

Ambassador Xie Feng said that in the next five years, the number of Chinese outbound tourists is expected to reach 700 million, averaging nearly 140 million per year. The majority of them will visit neighboring countries and regions of China. There is still much potential to further increase the number of Chinese tourists to Indonesia and boost bilateral tourism cooperation.

Ambassador Xie Feng asked the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism to step up its coordination efforts to ensure smooth entry and departure for Chinese tourists and protect their safety and legitimate rights and interests. Moreover, the Ministry is hoped to provide more convenient and personalized services for Chinese tourists. The Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in Indonesia are ready to further deepen communication and cooperation with Indonesian side, encourage more Chinese tourists to visit Indonesia and enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.

As remarked by Minister Arief Yahya, the Indonesian side is glad to see China become its largest foreign tourism market and appreciates China’s continuing efforts in promoting tourism cooperation. He hoped the two sides to work together to provide training for Chinese-speaking tour guides, open more direct flights and attract more Chinese investment in Indonesian tourism. The Indonesian side has and will continue to work with the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia to protect the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese tourists while providing more convenient and better services to improve their travel experience.